The Littlest Pilgrim

Title: The Littlest Pilgrim

Author:  Brandi Dougherty

Illustrator: Kirsten Richards

Publishing Company:  Cartwheel Books

Copyright date: 2008

Number of pages: 32

Genre:   Historical nonfiction

          I chose this book because it is a very cute story and Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  My niece used to love this book.  This sweet little pilgrim, Mini, thinks that she is too small to do anything.  Everything she tries to do help her family she gets sent away.  She starts to feel like she can’t do anything right and that maybe she is just too little.  At the end of the book she discovers that you are never too small to make friends, and that she is good at that!

          The illustrator of this book uses many traditionally fall-themed colors in the pictures.  It looks like the pictures are done in a water color medium; although, it doesn’t specify on the cover.  The text is set up as formal on some pages with the text above or below a smaller picture.  On other pages the text is informal.  On these pages there is a little bit of negative space.  This negative space is used to draw the reader’s attention to the center of the picture details.  The words are just placed directly onto the picture, and the picture takes up the whole page. 

             This book states that it is intended for second grade readers, but is a

kindergarten/first grade book.  I think that is an accurate judgment on the content of the book.  I really like this book, and would use it around the holidays and throughout the year.  It can be used to talk about pilgrims in a history lesson.  It could be used for personal growth, and to teach students that everyone can make friends.  It would be a good book to talk about where and how pilgrims lived.  It could be used to introduce the facts about Thanksgiving.  This book has no awards at this time.